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On the menu tonight:

On tonight’s science fiction podcast, we talk about everything you can expect from the Star Trek 11 DVD release. We also talk about how you can win a Star Trek 11 DVD.

Promos this Week:

For our trivia question this week: Extended

Submit an iTunes review and copy it to us along with your name and address. All entries get a chance to win either Blu-ray or DVD copy of Battlestar Galactica: The Plan or Star Trek 11. Need to be into us by Wednesday 6 PM EST November 18th. Again need your address if you want us to send you the prize.

If you know the answer, call us at 1.888.508.4343, e-mail us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, or contact @scifidiner on Twitter with your answers!

$375 Million Worldwide Sensation Beams Up to a Single and Two-Disc DVD and Three-Disc Blu-ray November 17, 2009

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (July 17, 2009) – This year audiences thrilled at the triumphant voyage of the Starship Enterprise and her young and vibrant crew in movie theaters across the planet — and on November 17, 2009, the world will go where no one has gone before when STAR TREK debuts as a three-disc Blu-ray with digital copy, two-disc DVD with digital copy and a single-disc DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment. Bursting with “spectacular action” (Hollywood Reporter) and “pure filmmaking exhilaration” (Rolling Stone) director J.J. Abrams’ sensational reinvention of the “Star Trek” franchise was hailed by critics and embraced by long-time and new fans alike, earning over $375 million at the worldwide box office. Starring a hot young cast including Chris Pine (Carriers), Zachary Quinto (”Heroes”), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Karl Urban (The Bourne Supremacy), John Cho (Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle), Anton Yelchin (Terminator Salvation) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), the global smash hit also features seasoned actors such as Eric Bana (Munich), Bruce Greenwood (National Treasure: Book of Secrets), Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted) and the original Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy.

“I cannot wait for fans of Star Trek to check out the home entertainment release of the film. The behind-the-scenes features on the DVD — and especially the Blu-ray — give a wonderful look at the crazy hard work and incredible fun that went into making this movie,” said J.J. Abrams. “The cast and crew were truly extraordinary to work with — watching these special features, you’ll see why. And for people who didn’t catch Star Trek in the theater, I hope they do now, as Paramount has done an exceptional job with this release; the picture and sound quality are both excellent.”

The STAR TREK DVD and Blu-ray will boast out-of-this-world special features to take viewers even further into the new universe of the rousing space adventure. The two-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-ray include in-depth explorations of the reimagining of the franchise, the phenomenal cast, the spectacularly real action sequences, the powerful score and the captivating aliens, commentary by J.J. Abrams, the writers and producers, a gag reel and a digital copy of the film. Additionally, the discs feature compelling deleted scenes that reveal a side story involving Nero with a first-ever look at Abrams’ version of the infamous warrior Klingons.

The STAR TREK Blu-ray boldly ventures beyond the final frontier with over three hours of sensational bonus footage including branching pods that allow for enhanced exploration, more fascinating features on the starships, planets, props, costumes and sound of STAR TREK, as well as a Starfleet Vessel Simulator and access to the latest NASA news about real-life space exploration via BD-Live.

The two-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-ray will also offer a home entertainment first: groundbreaking augmented reality technology. Using a webcam, a Star Trek visual cue will morph into a 3D holographic tour of the U.S.S. Enterprise on the screen, providing a unique immersive and interactive experience.

DVD:

The STAR TREK two-disc DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. Special features are as follows:

A New Vision — J.J. Abrams’ vision was not only to create a Star Trek that was a bigger, more action-packed spectacle, but also to make the spectacle feel real. Every aspect of production — from unique locations to the use of classic Hollywood camera tricks — was guided by this overall objective.

Gag Reel — Bloopers featuring the entire principal cast.

Disc 2:

Digital Copy

Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary

Spock Birth

Klingons Take Over Narada

Young Kirk, Johnny and Uncle Frank

Amanda and Sarek Argue After Spock Fights

Prison Interrogation and Breakout

Sarek Gets Amanda

Dorm Room and Kobayashi Maru (original version)

Kirk Apologizes to the Green Girl

Sarek Sees Spock

To Boldly Go — Taking on the world’s most beloved science fiction franchise was no small mission. Director J.J. Abrams, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof, and executive producer Bryan Burk talk about the many challenges they faced and their strategy for success.

Casting — The producers knew their greatest task was finding the right cast to reprise these epic roles. The cast, for their part, talk about the experience of trying to capture the essence of these mythic characters. The piece concludes with a moving tribute to Leonard Nimoy.

Aliens — Designers Neville Page and Joel Harlow talk about the hurdles they faced creating new alien species, recreating the Romulans and Vulcans, and designing the terrifying creatures on Delta Vega for the new Star Trek.

Score — As a fan of the original series, composer Michael Giacchino embraced the challenge of creating new music for Star Trek while preserving the spirit of Alexander Courage’s celebrated theme.

DVD-Rom:

STAR TREK D-A-C Free Trial Game for XBOX 360

Weblink to the STAR TREK D-A-C Free Trial Game for PC

Weblink to the STAR TREK D-A-C Free Trial Game for PlayStation Network

The STAR TREK single-disc DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The single-disc DVD includes the commentary, “A New Vision” and the gag reel.

BLU-RAY

The STAR TREK three-disc Blu-ray is presented in 1080p High Definition with English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. Special features are as follows:

NASA News — This BD-Live feature gives viewers access to the latest NASA news about real space exploration. Learn about new mission developments and check out featured imagery from around the universe.

Disc 2:

To Boldly Go — See description above.

Branching Pods:

The Shatner Conundrum

Red Shirt Guy

The Green Girl

Trekker Alert!

Casting — See description above.

A New Vision — See description above.

Branching Pods:

Savage Pressure

Starships — Abrams and production designer Scott Chambliss were careful to pay tribute to the design of the original Enterprise, but they also wanted to make it futuristic and cool for a modern audience. This chapter focuses on the unique stories behind the creation of the film’s starships.

Branching Pods:

Warp Explained

Paint Job

Bridge Construction Accelerated

The Captain’s Chair

Button Acting 101

Shuttle Shuffle

Narada Construction Accelerated

Aliens — See description above.

Branching Pods:

The Alien Paradox

Big-Eyed Girl

Big Bro Quinto

Klingons

Drakoulias Anatomy 101

Planets — From the frozen landscape of Delta Vega to the desert plains of Vulcan, Scott Chambliss and the art department had a number of radically different planets to create. Abrams’ desire to shoot on real locations whenever possible led the production team to a number of strange and surprising locations.

Branching Pods:

Extra Business

Confidentiality

Props and Costumes — Property master Russell Bobbitt had the unique challenge of designing props that were both true to the original series and pertinent to today’s technology. Likewise, costume designer Michael Kaplan talks about how he designed costumes that paid homage to what came before yet were relevant and timeless.

Branching Pods:

Klingon Wardrobe

Ben Burtt and the Sounds of Star Trek — When famed sound designer Ben Burtt was hired to create sounds for the first Star Wars film, he took his inspiration from the original “Star Trek” series. Burtt jumped at the opportunity to pay tribute to the sounds that sparked his career with the sounds he created for the new Star Trek.

Limited Edition Star Trek 11 Blu-ray Release

Star Trek fans will want to move fast on this collectible as it’s high quality and because it’s available for pre-order now I have no doubt it won’t be available for long.

The replica contains no plastic, is solid metal, is finished with chrome, textured steel and pewter, and weighs over a pound. It’s fully accurate as it has been designed from the digital effects files used in the film.

The upcoming Star Trek DVD/Blu-ray has some particularly juicy extras on it, which is good news if you were a fan of the J.J. Abrams reboot. The disc doesn’t drop until Nov. 17, but Abrams and screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman gave us a preview last month, and we picked out what we think are the six best features for you:

Lets share these and chat about each one:

The Klingons make their debut. The knobby-headed nemeses appeared in an early cut but were excised from the final film. “They were in the movie, and it’s one of those things that I hated to cut, for a number of reasons,” Abrams said. “One of them was that I loved the design, the world and the story, and that moment was really cool. So I’m very excited for people to see these scenes.” The sequence also has more action: You’ll see Nero take down his prison guards, and he fights Romulan-style.

Alias‘s Spy Daddy, Victor Garber, appears. Abrams’ former Alias star had a cameo as one of the Klingons, interrogating Nero (Eric Bana). “Victor Garber, who is one of my favorite actors, played a Klingon, was in the movie, had a ton of makeup and a very heavy, hot costume,” Abrams said. “I had to call him and tell him his scene wasn’t in the film. A huge consolation for me was that it will live forever on the DVD and Blu-ray, so I’m psyched for people to see that.”

See Spock born. In the movie, we see James Tiberius Kirk born while his father dies in a space battle. Orci and Kurtzman wrote Spock’s birth, too, but you’ll only see it on the DVD. “The first scene of the movie was the birth of Spock,” Kurtzman said. “I think that we knew that the way these characters were born was going to define everything about who they would become. Knowing that Kirk was going to be a renegade, knowing that he was going to have father issues, knowing he was going to be lost, knowing he was going to have to come into his own as captain prescribed a series of things that allowed us to think about ‘What would create a man like that?’ Which was a very emotional place to begin.”

Spock Prime explains one of the movie’s biggest coincidences. Perhaps the biggest complaint fans had about the reboot movie was that it was awfully coincidental for young Kirk (Chris Pine) to land on an ice planet only a few steps away from where Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy) was waiting for him. The original cut of the movie dealt with it, but the explanation wound up on the cutting-room floor. “In the scene where they’re in the cave, there was a sequence that is on the DVD that was cut from the movie where Spock speaks to that,” Abrams said. “He talks about how this is sort of the timeline’s way of trying to repair itself, and it’s as much about fate as anything. The trick in doing any movie, but especially something like this that involves some weird alternate-reality/time-travel thing, is that you don’t want to not explain it, but you don’t want to explain everything.”

The last word on why William Shatner’s not in it. Abrams has explained before that he really wanted the original Capt. Kirk in the movie but couldn’t figure out a way to explain his on-screen death in Star Trek: Generations. Let the DVD be the final word on that, with its featurette “The Shatner Conundrum.” “Essentially, it’s about how do you put him in the movie when you want him in it so badly, and yet the story actually seems in counter purposes with the story you want to tell?” Abrams said.

A gag reel. Among other things, this shows how Zachary Quinto (Spock) flubs his lines. “When you see Zachary screw up and sort of go from Spock to Zachary, Spock to Zachary, the back and forth, is so funny to me,” Abrams said. “He could not be less like Spock, and yet he was so convincing. To have him bounce back and forth so quickly as he screws up just makes me laugh every time.”